Dr. J. West Paul, Jr.

Dr. J. West Paul Jr., M.D., Ph.D., 63, passed away peacefully, surrounded by his family, after a brief battle with pancreatic cancer.West was born on January 31, 1962, in Greenville, North Carolina, to Joe W. Paul Sr. and Ann Smith Paul. 

West graduated from Ayden-Grifton High School and went on to study Zoology at Duke University. In 1992, he became the first person to earn both an M.D. and Ph.D. simultaneously from East Carolina University School of Medicine. After a brief period in drug development as a group leader at Hoechst-Roussel Pharmaceuticals, West entered the inaugural residency class in Internal Medicine at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida. Upon completion, he returned to ECU to practice Internal Medicine, later rejoining Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville to lead the Division of General Internal Medicine. During his tenure there, he held numerous leadership roles, most notably as Associate Director of the Internal Medicine Residency Program and Chair of Patient Safety and Quality.

 In 2013, he became Chief Quality Officer at WakeMed in Raleigh, where he brought his expertise from Mayo Clinic to improve care delivery in a large health system. In 2019, he joined New Hanover Regional Medical Center as Chief Clinical Officer, where his leadership was instrumental in the community response to COVID-19 in Wilmington NC. Most recently, in June 2024, West returned to East Carolina University School of Medicine as a professor and attending physician in the Internal Medicine clinic — returning to what he considered his true calling: caring for patients and mentoring students and residents. Throughout his distinguished career, West received numerous teaching awards. He was deeply admired by colleagues, patients, and trainees alike. He exemplified a simple, unwavering principle: the needs of the patient come first.

 West is survived by his beloved wife of 41 years, Sheri Howell Paul; his son, Joseph West Paul III and his daughter-in-law Ashley Meehan Paul of Oakland, California; his son William Benton Paul and his partner Kea McKibben of Rocky Mount, North Carolina; his father-in-law Curtis Howell, of Greenville NC; his sister and brother-in-law, Jo-Anna and Tom Clark of Durham, North Carolina; his sister- and brother-in-law, Tracy and Jeff Harkness of Alpharetta, Georgia; and his nieces and nephews, Anna and Randy McClure of Marin County, California, Karen and Jeff Holmes of Davidson, North Carolina, and Benton and Landon Harkness of Alpharetta, Georgia; many great-nieces and-nephews as well.

 We will celebrate West’s life at Palms Presbyterian Church, Jacksonville FL on Sunday August 3rd at 4:00 pm. We strongly request that attendees dress casually and wear Hawaiian shirts or floral prints to celebrate West’s love of all things coastal. Services will also be held in Greenville NC at a date and time to be determined.

 In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in West's honor at www.give.mayoclinic.org or checks sent to Mayo Clinic Department of Development, 200 First Street SW, Rochester, MN 55905. We request that donations be designated for "Medical Education in Jacksonville" or "Pancreatic Cancer Research – Peter Storz, Ph.D." If giving online, select "Other" on the dropdown menu labeled "What would you like your donation to support?" to designate this.